Camel kisses and turkey stampedes featured at Oasis Dairy’s Pomegranate Days

For many people, the idea of getting off the couch and away from the television set on the day after Thanksgiving usually means a trip to the mall. But Pomegranate Days at the Camel Oasis Dairy in Ramona offered a refreshing alternative. The clouds were black and blue and the air was downright chilly, but that didn’t stop either the kids or the adults from enjoying the antics of camels and turkeys.  

With a cockatoo perched on her shoulder, Nancy Riegler welcomed everyone to the 34-acre dairy. 

For many people, the idea of getting off the couch and away from the television set on the day after Thanksgiving usually means a trip to the mall. But Pomegranate Days at the Camel Oasis Dairy in Ramona offered a refreshing alternative. The clouds were black and blue and the air was downright chilly, but that didn’t stop either the kids or the adults from enjoying the antics of camels and turkeys.  

With a cockatoo perched on her shoulder, Nancy Riegler welcomed everyone to the 34-acre dairy. 

“You might all be thinking, why do we work with camels? That’s a story my husband can tell,” she said handing the microphone to Gil Riegler.”

Riegler explained that before he opened his dairy 20 years ago, he used to work with therapy animals for special needs kids. 

When they brought in a camel for him to work with the kids, Riegler was taken aback. He had thought that camels were mean animals, spitting and kicking as they are often portrayed in television and movies. But he was impressed by how calm the camels were around the kids. 

“I was so impressed and I knew my life would be very good if I had camels around,” he said.

The Rieglers now have a herd of 18 dromedary camels that freely roam the property of Oasis Dairy. Two of the females are pregnant, with the babies expected in April. Over the next several months, the bull camel will breed with five more females.

Riegler brought out a show camel named Samson. The kids started giggling when Samson began to urinate. 

“Believe it or not, female camels like the smell of the male camels’ urine,” he said. All of the kids made faces and giggled.

“So the male camel like Samson here will use his tail to swish his urine all over his body when the females are around,” he said, to which everyone groaned and laughed.

Riegler told other interesting facts about camels, such as their humps. Contrary to popular belief, it is not water that is stored in the hump, even though camels can go without water for two weeks. Instead, fat is stored in the hump. In the summer where there is a shortage of food, the nutrients from the fat in the hump enter into the bloodstream. 

“Camels also have great milk. It has lots of nutrients, including Vitamin C and insulin, which is good for people with diabetes,” Riegler said.

Products using camel’s milk include lotions, soaps and delicious chocolate bars, all of which are sold at the Oasis Dairy store. 

The camels of Oasis Dairy make an appearance at Christmas events around the county, including the pageant at Shadow Mountain Church in El Cajon. Riegler told a story of an unforgettable camel encounter with a member in the congregation one year.

“As the camel calmly walked up the aisle, he stopped, looked to the side of him went over and gave a woman sitting in the pew a kiss on her cheek.

The pastor of the church could hardly believe it. He said that camel has good taste. Out of 1,800 people in the congregation, the camel had kissed the pastor’s wife,” said Riegler, with everyone laughing and clapping at the story.

“You ready to feed the camels?” asked Nancy Riegler.

Everyone cheered. She demonstrated how with Samson. “Camels have prehensile lips, which means they can pick up things very easily. 

“So put the fruit in the palm of your hand and lay your hand out flat under the camel’s mouth so it can pick up the fruit,” she said, and off everyone went to get their pomegranates and apples.

Among the dozens of kids feeding the camels was Kali Groulx, 9, who gave the camel a big smile as it chomped on the pomegranate.

“It felt sticky, from all his spit, but it was cool,” Groulx said. 

“I wasn’t scared at all, but some of the bigger ones do get scary because I never knew if they’re going to start chewing on my jacket,” she said.

When the feeding frenzy for the camels was all done, Nancy Riegler invited everyone to come up to the bleachers again to watch the turkey stampede

“You guys are troopers,” she told the people, who were all standing with their umbrellas under a cloudburst.

Her husband brought out a remote-controlled toy truck filled with turkey feed. Then they opened the door of the white trailer behind them, and out came five turkeys. 

The crowd cheered when Riegler asked if they were ready to watch the turkey race. She pressed the remote control, the toy truck started moving, and the turkeys raced and even flew after it. When the truck stopped, they gobbled up the food. 

“You have just seen proof that, contrary to the myth, turkeys do not drown in the rain,” Riegler said. 

Soon after, a double rainbow appeared in the sky. It was a good way to end a pleasant afternoon. Camel Oasis Dairy offers special events several times during the year. The next Open Farm Tour will be held in January of February 2016. www.cameldairy.com.